Station or street annunciator.



N0. 667,736. Patented Feb. l2, |90l.

A. H. POE.

STATION 0R STREET ANNUNGIATUR.

IApplication led Nov.l 3, 1900.!

' IN VENTO/R alfred H. Poe, By vs Afornv/ WITNESSES:

einen,

ALFRED HENRY POE, OF OTTAWA, OHIO.

STATBON OR STREET ANNUNCIATOR.

SEECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 667,736, dated February 12, 1901.

Application tiled November 3, 1900. Serial No. 35,341. (No model.)

To alt whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED HENRY POE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ottawa, in the county of Putnam and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Station or Street Annunciators; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine, reference being had to the accoinpanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a device to be used on railway-cars and street-cars for announcing to the passengers the name of the station or street which the car is approaching; and its object is to provide a mechanism which shall be cheap, simple, and durable and which shall be easily operated and invariably correct. I attain these objects by means of the devices and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and shown and illustrated in -the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a front elevation of my device with a portion of the case hereinafter referred to broken away to expose the interior; Fig. 2, a central vertical transverse section taken on line @o oo, Eig. l; Fig. 3, a top plan View with a portion of the top broken away; and Fig. 4, an enlarged transversesection of a portion of my device, showing in detail the arrangementof the annunciator cards and slide hereinafter referred to.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

In the drawings, l is a rectangular case or box,open at bottom and havingin front a door 2. The box is supported upon a bracket 3, which is designed to be secured to the front end of the interior of a passenger-car at such height that the annunciator may be seen from any part of the car. Secured to the bracket near its lower margin are two curved spindles 4 4, which project forwardly and upwardly and extend up into the case l through its open bottom as far as may be desired. rIhese spindles are curved in such fashion that at top they are vertical and at bottom horizontal.

5 5 are a series of cards rectangular in genfront corners of the cards a lateral finger orI projection 5. (See Fig. l.)

Across the rear of the case l and secured to the bottom thereof is a forwardly-projecting bar or ledge 6, upon which rest the rear margins of the cards 5 when the cards are in horizontal position. In the saine horizontal plane with the ledge 6 is secured, near the front of the case l, inwardly-projecting lugs 7 7, upon which the fingers or projections 5"A of the cards rest when the cards are in horizontal position. The vertical distance between the bottom of the door 2 and the lug 7 corresponds with the thickness of each of the cards.

At the bottom and rear of the case is ametal plate 8, supported in guides 9, secured to the case or to the bracket.

10 is a lever fulcrumed upon the bracket orcase, projecting beyond the end of the case and connected, as at 1l, with the plate 8.

12 is a spring connected with'the plate 8, as at 12a, which spring holds the plate 8 normally retracted. The plate 8 is thinner than either of the cards, and its bottom face is in the same horizontal plane with the lower face of the bottom card resting upon the ledge and the lugs 7.

The operation of my device is as follows: The proper number of the cards or plates 5 is provided, each card having plainly appearing thereon on both sides the name of one of the points at which the car is to stop. These cards are arranged in their proper order, the bottom one indicating the starting-point, the next one the first stop, and so on, the top card indicating the last stop. The door 2 is opened, and all of the cards may together be slipped upon the upper end of the spindles 4. The

door is now closed and secured and the cards rest horizontally at back upon the ledge 6 IOO and at front upon the lugs 7. When the car starts, the conductor or attendant throws the lever 10 forward, which moves the front edge of the plate 8 against the rear edge of the bottom card. The bottom card is now pushed forward, passing beneath the lower edge of the door, this movement of the card being permitted by the elongations of the holes 5a. When the rear edge of the card slips beyond the supporting-ledge 6, the lugs 7 will at the same instant coincide with the notches 5b, and the card now being without support will fall and sliding down the curved spindles will drop into vertical position and will hang at the bottom of the spindles, as illustrated in Figs. l and 2. The card,with the name thereon, will now be clearly exposed and will indicate the next street or stop, as the case may be. When the lever 10 is released, the spring 12 retracts the plate 8, carrying the lever back to its original position. The next card now rests upon the ledge 6 and lug 7 in the pat-h of the plate 8, ready to be dropped by the next movement of the lever, as above described. At the end of the trip the whole series of cards is slipped od the spindles through the open door, and the series of cards is inverted and replaced. The device is now ready for the return trip.

Upon the front of the box may be inscribed Next street, or Next stop, or such other Words as the condition may require.

If desired, all of the levers l0 in a train of cars may be connected by a cord or rope or other equivalent connecting mechanism under control of the engineer or other attendant, and the indicating-cards of all the annunciators may be thus dropped simultaneously.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a station or streetannunciator, a series of annunciator-cards havingindented end margins, means for the support of said cards in horizontal position, which supports are adapted to engage the projecting portions of said indented margins, means for moving the bottom card of said series independently of the other cards, whereby said indentations are brought into coincidence with said supports and whereby the bottom card is allowed to drop.

2. In a station or street annunciator, a series of annunciator-cards, horizon tally-disposed supports for the margins of the bottom card of said series, indentations in the margins of said cards,elongated openings through said cards, upwardly-projecting curved spindles passing through said elongated openings, and means for moving the bottom card of said series independently of the other cards.

3. In a station or street annunciator, an annunciator-card having indented end margins and two elongated holes therethrough near one of its side margins.

et. In a station or street ann unciator, a case, a series of cards disposed horizontally therein, a Hat horizontal plate thinner than the cards and disposed in the same horizontal plane with and adjacent to the bottom card, and means for actuating said plate, combined with means for suspending said cards in vertical position.

5. In a station or street annunciator, a series of annunciator-cards having indented margins and elongated openings therethrough, horizontal supports for said series of cards, upwardly-projecting curved spindles passing through the elongated openings in said cards, a movable plate of less thickness than the lower card disposed in the same plane as the lower card and adjacent thereto, and means for actuating said plate.

6. Astation or street annunciator, comprising a case open at bottom, a pair ot' curved spindles projecting upwardly into said case, a series of annunciator-cards mounted upon said spindles, inwardly-projecting members at the bottom ot said case for the support of said cards in horizontal position,means atthe rear of the case for forcing outwardly the bottom card, and means for releasing the bottom card from said supports, whereby the bottom card is permitted to drop into vertical position upon said curved spindles.

In testimony whereof I aiX my signature -in presence'of two witnesses.

ALFRED HENRY POE. Witnesses:

HATTIE G. UNKENHoLz, GEORGE BAILEY. 

